2018 Draft Thread -- because the "off-season" is when you get better!!!

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Re: 2018 Draft Thread -- because the "off-season" is when you get better!!!

My takeaway on the top attributes/skills to focus on:
#1: Accuracy - Not the stat so much, but rather what the guy's footwork does for him and how/where he places the ball

#2: Vision coupled with poise - Does he survey the field and progress through his reads? Or does he lock on and just rip it YOLO-style? (This applies to non Baylor-esque offenses). How convincing are his pump-fakes? How patient are his meshes?

#3: FBIQ and judgment - Pre-snap direction (not as prevalent in CFB vs. NFL, I know). Does he throw it away...or risk an INT? Does he bail too soon? Does he hold the ball too long?

#4: Miscellaneous - Can he put the team on his back? How is his command, precision, confidence and demeanor when the game is tight?

I thought about elusiveness, but I think that it's more of a by-product of #3 (coupled with raw athletic ability) than anything else. I could be wrong on that, but four attributes is probably all that I can stand to record and track for the (5-8 max) QB prospects that I'll get a chance to watch over the next 10 months.

Any tips from the QB masters out there?

Last edited by BigPlayReceiver; 07-07-2017 at 12:45 PM.
Reason: "What" not "was"

"The Ravens are not taking Jimmy Smith at 26!" -- Me, the day before the 2011 Draft

"On their way to the podium, the Ravens FO is going to collectively step over my dead body and select...Breshad Perriman." -- Me, the day before the 2015 Draft

Re: 2018 Draft Thread -- because the "off-season" is when you get better!!!

Originally Posted by BigPlayReceiver

#2: Vision coupled with poise - Does he survey the field and progress through his reads? Or does he lock on and just rip it YOLO-style? (This applies to non Baylor-esque offenses). How convincing are his pump-fakes? How patient are his meshes?

Adding: does he keep his eyes up and downfield as the pocket tightens?

"The Ravens are not taking Jimmy Smith at 26!" -- Me, the day before the 2011 Draft

"On their way to the podium, the Ravens FO is going to collectively step over my dead body and select...Breshad Perriman." -- Me, the day before the 2015 Draft

Now, which of these is coachable, and which is innate? I'd say toughness/poise, arm strength and pocket presence are pretty close to innate attributes. They can be minimally improved with experience and practice, but generally a prospect can sling it, or he can't. A prospect can sense pressure, or he can't. A prospect will take a hit to make a throw, or he won't. A prospect will raise is game in the big moments or he won't. I'd say release, anticipation, and diagnosis are the next level up. Release can be improved moderately with mechanical corrections, but is limited somewhat by the quick-twitch capabilities of the arm. Anticipation and diagnosis are the aspects than can be improved the most through experience and practice, but again there's going to be an innate level of football intelligence that puts an upper and lower bound on a prospect here. I think ball placement (or accuracy) is the attribute that can be most improved through mechanical adjustments and repetition. Some prospects are certainly hopeless in this area, but I think it's the last of the football attributes you worry about (assuming a prospect has an acceptable baseline).

Release takes a little more disciplined of an eye, but you can generally tell if a QB has a prolonged windup.

Pocket presence is reasonably apparent if you watch for it over a large enough sample size. Does the QB take a lot of unnecessary sacks? Does he tend to escape pressure?

Similarly, is he bailing on contact, or will he stand tough and make a throw knowing he'll take a big hit? Reasonably easy to see, though heavily context-dependent (e.g., is he kept clean due to scheme and/or talent disparity between his OL and opposing DLs?).

Does he step up in crunch time and in big games?

I think the feet are reasonably easy to evaluate in most cases. Footwork technique will vary wildly across schemes and coaches, but you can tell when a guy has lead feet. The combine helps a lot here, allowing you to see a guy move relative to his peers.

Ball placement and accuracy can be apparent on film, but I think you've got to step back and consider a few factors. One, college ball placement should be on a completely different evaluative scale than NFL ball placement. Two, if you see some inaccuracy, was there an apparent reason for it? Were the feet out of sync with the shoulders? Did he throw flat-footed or off his back foot? Did he throw across his body? Was the arm angle wonky? If he looks in balance and throws with good form, but still consistently misses badly, that's when flags are raised with me. My overriding question is "If he gets consistent with mechanics (upper and lower), will he be accurate?"

Anticipation and diagnosis are by far the most difficult for us as fans to evaluate, IMO. College schemes might be based on half-field reads. They might have no built-in option routes or hot routes. They might be heavily RPO based (i.e., one read). I think this is where team interviews are most important with QBs. Get those guys in the film room and evaluate their football intelligence in there. I'd assert that this is also the area most difficult for professionals to evaluate, and the reason most QBs fail in the NFL. Most of the time, you just don't know until you get him on the field in a live setting.

Anyway, that's my .02. I'm far from a professional and all that might be way off-base, but it all seems logical to this draftnik/CFB fan.